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Chapter One
     
    The blue mountain sky shone through the canopy of leaves,
reflecting dapples of light in cool greens on the surface of the water. Jenna
sighed and floated on her back in the creek. It had a current that kept her on
a gentle spin in the pool formed by erosion over eons. She hadn’t felt this
relaxed in forever. The last time might have been before her accident this past
winter when she threw caution to the wind and accepted Chet’s invitation to
ski.
    Jenna knew she would come back to her mountain cowboy and
the summer seemed like the perfect time. Her leg had healed but she still
needed to take care walking over rough ground. Floating in the water was
heavenly, and she watched the sky through the trees. Contentment filled her.
She loved being back here. Jenna was drawn west with a fiery passion she was
just beginning to understand. It wasn’t just the man, although he was the
biggest reason she was here, it was the land too. The wild, untamed beauty of
it matched her soul so completely.
    After she arrived back in Colorado a few weeks ago, they
were so enamored of each other, Chet sent the house staff home. They zealously
guarded their private time. But Chet had a ranch to run and business to attend
to, so they had to emerge back into reality. Chet knew she wanted to get to the
cabin, so they’d ridden up the mountain that first weekend. He was hesitant
about her riding because of her freshly healed broken leg, but she assured him
if they took it easy, her leg would be fine. She wasn’t going to let a little
bit of ache keep her from their cabin . He had stocked it with everything
they could possibly need, including wine.
    It had been a glorious couple of days before Chet had to
head down and get back to real life. She smiled and enjoyed the heat that
bloomed in her belly, remembering their first lovemaking session after being
apart for so many months. Desire for her cowboy never failed to heat her blood
and she longed for him now. She wanted him with her in the soft mountain water,
which caressed her skin so seductively.
    The grime and dust of her prospecting activities at Chet’s
great-great-uncle Chester’s old claim sluiced off in the creek’s current and
left her skin pink and tingly. She wasn’t ready to get out yet and closed her
eyes, drifting lazily.
    Chet couldn’t confirm when he’d be back and Jenna had gotten
used to staying here on her own when he wasn’t with her. At first, he’d been
hesitant to leave her, but she insisted and he’d learned a while ago how
stubborn she could be. So they compromised. He made sure she was checked on
daily by a ranch hand, had taught her to shoot and left the rifle by the door.
The radio was primed in case she needed immediate help and his dog Belle stayed
with her. All was good with the world.
    Letting her legs drop, Jenna curled her toes into the creek
bed and stood. The water was deep, just covering her breasts. They bobbed at
the surface, buffeted by little eddies of current. She tipped back, ducked her
head in the water and swept her long red tresses out of her face. When she
stood, it hung to her shoulders and fanned out on the surface of the water like
a halo.
    A sense of wellbeing filled her and her heart swelled with
happiness. Never had such a strong sensation of belonging, being home, been so
sharply etched within her. She knew she had been born on the wrong side of the
continent. It was here she should have grown up and experienced life, not back
east. Jenna inhaled the crisp mountain air and gazed at the bush around her. It
was just as beautiful in the summer as in the winter. Her love for this land
grew daily and it truly pained her to think of leaving it. And Chet.
    She brushed the disturbing thought aside. It was a while
before she’d be packing her bags. Jenna’s gaze took in the brand new sluice
box. Chet had replaced the broken-down one with a much more modern setup here
at the creek and farther up-river where the tree came down.